Patriarchy and Spinsterhood in Morocco

Abstract

The present study is an attempt to investigate higher education learners’ attitudes about the issue of spinsterhood as a social phenomenon in Morocco. It aims at investigating the variables that may influence spinsterhood such as religion, culture, international human rights, marriage legislation and women education. The paper uses a theoretical and practical part. The review of literature is quiet broad and inclusive that it trespasses the national intellectual framework on the issue of spinsterhood to the western one. The field work is conducted through distributing a representative number of questionnaires, 350 questionnaires. Briefly, the findings proved that the majority of respondents, 51% believes that the society regards spinsters as those who had never been proposed to. Moreover, 52% of respondents hold the view that spinsters are old women who had never been married. As to the gender perception factors that may further stereotype spinsters, the findings proved that the majority of the respondents, 55% stress that religion stands as a primary factor behind conservative gender perception. Lastly, an important percent of 49% of the respondents believes that the lack of education is the factor behind such perceptions of gender